DND: New PH-US task force also for calamity response
The new task force formed by Manila and Washington will boost interoperability between the two allies not only to deter aggression in the West Philippine Sea, but to quickly respond to calamities in the country, Department of National Defense (DND) Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. said on Sunday.
“We do not only converge in deterrence but we also converge because of the frequency of natural calamities that have beset us,” said Teodoro, who unveiled Task Force Philippines with US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth last Friday.
“This task force will put more regularity into an immediate and quick response to the natural calamities that we are facing,” he added.
Hegseth had earlier said that this would increase the interoperability and contingency preparedness of the countries “so that we can decisively respond to a crisis or aggression and reestablish deterrence in the South China Sea.”
Teodoro said the new task force is a “function” of the Mutual Defense Treaty between Manila and Washington, which calls on each other’s defense in case of an “armed attack.”
Operating agreement
China’s aggression against Philippine vessels and fishermen continues in the West Philippine Sea, with experts warning that this could border on “armed attack” that may compel the United States to come to the defense of its treaty ally in Asia. Beijing claims almost the entire South China Sea and continues to ignore a 2016 arbitral tribunal ruling invalidating its sweeping claim in favor of Manila.
In essence, the task force is an operating agreement between Armed Forces of the Philippines chief Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr. and Indo-Pacific Command chief Adm. Samuel Paparo Jr., according to Teodoro.
“It is nothing new but an operating agreement between General Brawner and Admiral Paparo raised up to our level and with, upon the, shall we say, permission, with the permission of both President Trump and President Marcos,” Teodoro told reporters after the signing of the Status of Visiting Forces Agreement between the Philippines and Canada in Manila on Sunday afternoon.
‘Greater defense presence’
For security expert Chester Cabalza, this task force signals a “greater defense presence” of the United States in Southeast Asia and the entire Indo-Pacific region.
“While Trump magnifies his peacemaker hat and business skills, he still desires to maintain the US indisputable hard power,” Cabalza, president of the Manila-based think tank International Development and Security Cooperation, said in a message to the Inquirer over the weekend.
“The US brings a message of steadfast support to an oldest treaty ally still bullied by China,” he added.
In November last year, Manila and Washington also formed “Task Force Ayungin,” which refers to Ayungin (Second Thomas) Shoal in Spratly Islands, a major flash point of tension between Manila and Beijing, since the Philippine government ran aground the BRP Sierra Madre there in 1999 to serve as an outpost.
“It feels like a rebranding of Task Force Ayungin to me,” SeaLight director Ray Powell said in a message to the Inquirer. “Maybe a broadening of its mission.”
